The Terror Gaze: Book 2 of The Mortal Guard Series

Chapter 16 - Richard and Iwai: Rock the Boat

Chapter 16 - Richard and Iwai: "Rock the Boat"

Earlier the day Nick and Tyler went bowling . . .

Emerging from deep within the lush green forest, Richard and Iwai found themselves in a parking lot that held a sparse few cars; about nine total. It was quite a strange sight, considering it was March. The sun was shining in the sky and only a few puffy white clouds dotted the blue. Richard wasn't wearing his Guard Garb, other than his Gravity Boots, so he felt the warm weather on his fur.

What he was wearing, though, was nothing short of stylish—light brown pants and a light blue button-down that almost matched the sky. The short sleeves were rolled up slightly even though it wouldn't have made much difference. Richard also sported a pair of black sunglasses across his eyes, which rested on the bridge of his nose gently.

Iwai was walking off of the curb and onto the asphalt behind him, wearing a large seafoam green button-down that sat open over a white tank top. The buck had a black belt wrapped around the waist of his dark blue jeans which went all the way down to his Gravity Boots. They looked the same as Richard's but were a few sizes bigger.

The belt buckle he showed off was the same symbol spotted everywhere in Prostasia's Creature Hunting Sect: the shield of protection with the same fierce face that symbolized the two animals' grand Sect. Around Iwai's neck was a simple gold chain that Richard had never seen him wear before. Then again, Iwai hardly ever went out.

Richard stopped as they came across their destination: the sprawling blue waters of Lake Travis, somehow never sitting still even though it seemed to be on a flat piece of land. There were only three boats on the water; surely a few of the cars in the lot belonged to them. The raccoon smiled slightly. "Are you certain that it's a good idea to have a Sect Leader out in the world like this? What if something happened to you?"

Iwai put a big, but soft, hand on his shoulder. "There are plenty of Iwais. I mean, I'm just one Double, but my memories and feelings are all the same. They'd never send the original Iwai out here."

Richard took a second to think. "But it was the original's idea to bring me here today, yes?"

"Yeah," the clone nodded. "But we all feel the same about you, Rich. Come on, why don't we get us a boat, huh?"

"Certainly," the creature hunter replied.

The two animals walked toward the shore of the river, where more than a few boats were lined up. There was a pattern to their formation. Orange, yellow, green, orange, yellow, green.

Richard couldn't help but be reminded of a date he and Nick had where they visited a candy store. Richard found it funny that the hyena had brought him there, only to explain to them that he never had the desire to eat sweets anymore. When he joined the Mortal Guard, the creation of his Double meant that his sweet tooth went with the piece of his Soul that was taken. Nonetheless, Richard was curious how the candy would taste to Nick, then, and his boyfriend still found the morsels delicious.

Iwai and Richard came upon a small white shack with a brown roof, lodged into the side of the shore. There was a white sign with colorfully painted letters on it describing the prices of each boat.

Yet another thought ran through Richard's mind. The thought that the Mortal Guard never had to want for anything financially. Their cases always paid their due dividends, and nothing in the Mortal Realm ever seemed to be too expensive for any of them. Nick had told Richard that it was strange to live a life of luxury now, but it was certainly a nice bonus.

Still, Richard didn't see it as a life of luxury. Sure, there was the blatant truth: they could buy almost anything their hearts desired after a few simple cases, but the matter was more specific than that.